Pork Barrel Issue Essay On Gre

reaction paper on pork barrel scam

1582 WordsOct 13th, 20137 Pages

Priority Development Assistance Fund scam

I. Issues on Problems: The Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, also called the PDAF scam or the pork barrel scam, is a political scandal involving the alleged misuse by several members of the Congress of the Philippines of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF, popularly called "pork barrel"), a lump-sum discretionary fund granted to each member of Congress for spending on priority development projects of the Philippine government, mostly on the local level. The scam was first exposed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on July 12, 2013, with the six-part exposé of the Inquirer on the scam pointing to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles as the scam's mastermind after Benhur K. Luy, her…show more content…

The PDAF has proven to be very unpopular, with numerous calls for its abolition. In 1996, the Philippine Daily Inquirer published an exposé on systematic corruption in the CDF, with an anonymous congressman (since identified as Romeo D. Candazo of Marikina) elaborating how legislators and other government officials earned from overpricing projects in order to receive large commissions. Public outrage over the misuse of the CDF was instrumental in the enactment of reforms which led to the formation of the PDAF. The constitutionality of the PDAF has also been challenged in the Supreme Court. In 1994, the constitutionality of the CDF was challenged by the Philippine Constitution Association, arguing that the CDF's mechanisms encroach on the executive's power of implementing the budget passed by the legislature, but the Court ruled the CDF constitutional under the legislative's "power of the purse". This ruling was reaffirmed in 2001, when the PDAF was challenged again in the Supreme Court. Legislators themselves are torn on the abolition of the PDAF, with some supporting total abolition, others supporting increased regulation to minimize abuse of PDAF disbursements, and others opposed to it. A. Political Money can’t be gain without putting yourself in a risk or in a work which can bear sweats and bloods. It is not easy to

Show More

Second in a series

“The culprits and the senators should return the money. They are setting a bad example for the youth.” —Benj Lopez Roy, 17, High-school junior, International School Manila, Taguig

“The pork barrel scandal opened the eyes of the Filipinos to the reality in our government. It made us realize that corruption in our country can no longer continue, which we showed in the Million People March. The pork barrel system may allow leaders to get our taxes, but it also helped a lot of leaders, who benefited and made use of the funds from it.

“If we do abolish it, where will our taxes go, and what will happen to the people who benefited from it through schools, hospitals, and other projects? If we fight for reform, then we will be able to fix the loopholes and create transparency in the pork barrel system, which will give way to good governance.

“We, the public, can’t totally stop government officials from abusing their power because that is the person’s choice. But we can improve our government by voting for the right leaders, and not just because you got paid to do so. We can also demand transparency in every project or program that affects us, because we have the right to know.” —Tabby Marinas, 15, Third year high school

“The pork barrel scandal is what government corruption is all about. While pork barrel, as well as other rules and laws, were imposed with good intentions, it was easily manipulated and has become a big scandal that had people protesting in the Million People March and on Edsa. The scandal should be enough to help the government understand the flaw in its purpose, as well as question the integrity of those who were put in charge and abused their authority and responsibility to the people.

“While people can march for the abolition of pork barrel, we also need to fix the heart of the problem in order to stop government officials from abusing their power—by electing those that we know and trust to do what they’re meant to do as a representative of and for the people, and not take advantage of that power for their own personal profit and gain.” —Maia L. Paterno, 16, Third year high school, International School Manila, Taguig

“I think the pork barrel situation is a very good testament to the deteriorating state of our government. It shows exactly elected officials are capable of manipulation, corruption and deceit. In my opinion, an issue such as this could be solved if more transparency was added into the budgetary system. The people should be given more constant updates as to where funds such as the pork barrel go.” —AJ Pineda, 16, Third year high school, Beacon International School

“It is obvious that the pork barrel is not a working system in the Philippines because of all the injustices that have been brought upon us. The system itself is not the problem, because if used properly, many people will benefit from it.

“The problem with this situation is that many of our government officials misuse it for their own benefits… We have politicians who are merely famous people who want to try and serve in government when they don’t really know what to do. On the other hand, we also have politicians who are eligible for the position but are not capable of making laws and just put the money into their pockets. The effects of these are lethal, since the future of our people is jeopardized.

“At the same time, there is little to no improvement from the so-called ‘governmental projects’ that many politicians claim to be working on. This is evident in our lives, since all of us experience hardships because of the lack of services from our government. Having streetlights on a major road is necessary, all the more when it is constantly being used by thousands of people everyday. These things are supposed to be prioritized by the government, but because of the pork barrel, these necessities are not met.

“The public can prevent government officials from abusing us by voting the responsible and trustworthy, and by changing the system to prevent politicians from keeping the money for themselves.” —Ged Poe, 16, Third year high school, Xavier School

“I think that the pork barrel scandal needs to be thoroughly investigated, and let all guilty parties be charged in court. This scandal has shown the true colors of the government, and has been an eye-opener to the public. Over the last few weeks, it has also been fought over and disputed, so the public should clamor for new laws to prevent these kinds of abuses from happening again.” —Luis Recto, 16, High school sophomore, British School Manila, Taguig

“The pork barrel should be removed because it’s a temptation to public officials. I don’t think there is a way to stop corruption since it has already become part of the system, so just minimize all temptations or chances of it.” —Kyle Maxine Romero, 16, Freshman, University of the Philippines Manila

“Although the pork barrel was initially implemented for the development of the Philippines, there is no doubt that its abolition will be better for the country. The scandal has shown how flawed the PDAF is, and the extent to which it can be exploited and abused. Corruption in the Philippines is a major issue; the public must make smarter and more informed choices about the officials they vote for during elections.

“Hopefully, movements like the Million People March and the use of social media (Twitter, Facebook) to name-and-shame those involved in the scam will show government officials that they cannot get away with such immoral, illegal and corrupt acts.” —Katerina Sicat, 18, Freshman, University of Pennsylvania

“The pork barrel scandal really hurt the common people because they work hard and pay taxes as responsible citizens.

“Government officials should first have values. If they know what respect is, they will not do this to the people.

“The public should keep an eye on the said pork barrel, checking if it is really used in government projects.” —John Philip R. Sta. Ana, 14, Third year high school, CJ Learning Center, Cardona, Rizal

Don't miss out on the latest news and information.

Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.